The Washington critic., 1887-10-18

1 thanKGu her Tor tne lnNllhllou anu
promised TO be on hand.
At the appointed hour / was shown
into their modest parlor, and you may
be sure the husbands gratitude was no
less warmly expressed than the wifo's.
And little Lizzie threw her arms
around my neck and showered on me
the innocent caresses OF happy child.
/ seemed, indeed, to be one of the fam
ily:
The dinner was merry one, the
savant seemed to be an interesting man
in brief, ! passed an excellent even.
ing.
The air had been heavy the whole
day, and In the evening storm came
on. Thunder claps succeeded one an-
other without interruption, the rain
fell In torrents. Whether II was the
effect of the storm, of the suifocatlng
heat, or of the wine had drank, / felt a
strange melancholy, could not
breathe comfortably. was about to
start for home, however, for 1t was late
and my house was at some distances;
but they insisted that l should stay.
1t would be foolish to expose myself to
such tempest when ] was not feeling
well; the mother begged me with such
a good grace that | felt forced to re
main. and pass the night in that hos.
pitable house. They tremendously
conducted me to my room, and there
wished me good night. remember
even that Lizzie having fallen asleep In
her fathers arms, / kissed her little
cheek. paled by sleep. and her dimpled
little arms.
Left alone, began to undress slowly
and wandering about the room, as one
always does when one sleeps In strange
place. ! felt as II should smother In
the close atmosphere of the room.
Before getting In bed | wanted to in
hale little of the outside air, and in
spite of the roaring storm i tried to
open the window. 1t was false win
dow.
"Well, we'll" exclaimed, a little
surprised.
/ thought I would remove the
chimney screen; II was false chimney.
Fear seized me, and, holding my
quiet all seemed to be asleep. Then
inspected the room carefully, strain.
ing my ears for the least sound. On
the floor, near the bed, | noticed spots;
1t was blood-dried and blackened
blood / shuddered, and cold sweat
stood on my forehead. Blood Why
should there be blood there? And /
saw that a whole sea Of blood must
have been split therefor great space
around the hard wooden floor had
been freshly scrubbed and scraped.
All at once cried out. Under the bed
l had seen u man, stretched out, mo.
tionless as an overturned statue. /
could not cry or call out With
trembling hands l touched the man.
He did not move. With trembling
hands ] pushed the man. He did not
move. With trembling hands seized
the man by the feet and drew him forth
he was dead His neck had been
| cleanly cut, as with one stroke of a
razor, aud the head held to the trunk
only by slender ligament.
thought should 60 mad. But
something must be done-the assassin
might come at any moment. raised
the body to place 1t on the bed. l
made false step and the livid head
| head turned over, swung to and fro for
| moment like hideous pendulum,
and then. detached from the trunk, fell
on the floor with dull sound. With
great difficulty ] introduced the decap.
| itated trunk between the sheets,
| picked up the head and placed 1t on
the pillow like that of a sleeping man,
and, having blown out the candle, i
slipped under the bed. did all this
mechanically, without thought of de.
fense or safety; 1t was instinct that
prompted me, not intelligence or Tetlec-
tIon.
My teeth chartered. My hands were
wet with thick moisture. felt as
If had gone to bed In charnel house.
| remained there In that awful fear
minutes. hours, months, years, cen.
turies-I do not know how long. /
lost all idea of time and place. All was
silent. From without the noise of the
storm and the whistling of the wind
came to me softened and sad, like
moans. could not picture to myself
the assassin who was coming-who was
there, perhaps. In that state of horror
l could see only little Lizzie, fair, rosy
and frank, with her doll and her greal
hat; ! could see her sleeping In hel
fathers arms; now and then SHE
slightly raised her eyelids and dis
closed her eyes, which seemed to me tc
be bold, implacable, cruel, murderous
The door opened, but as softly al
the scratching of mouse. bit my
lips till the blood came to keep from
crying out. Now man stepped II
with gliding tread. with infinite pre-
cautions to avoid touching any of th,
furniture. 1t seemed to me as II
could see the cruel, clutching finger
gliding over my clothes. searching N.Y.
pockets. Then the steps came nearer
seemed to Craze me. felt that tn
man was bending over the bed, then h
struck one fierce blow. Then / knew
nothing more.
When ! recovered consciousness thu
room had become silent again. Blu
fright held me nailed to the spot. A
length | decided to escape, with wha
caution you may imagine. On tiptoe
gained the door, which had not beer
closed. Not sound, not o breath
Feeling my way, passed into the hall
l waited to see a head thrust suddenl,
from out the shadows, knife CLEAN Ii
the dark. But no; the brute, gluttet
with crime, slept without remorse.
descended the stairs, drew the bolt o
the door and, half faintlng, with tn,
blood frozen In my veins, fell into tn,
gutter of the deserted street.
DR.. Betram had listened to my recita
with the deepest interest.
"And there | found you, Mr.. Fur
Miss, and in what state Could yol
recognize the house?"
Yes, | replied, "but to what end ?
"Well, let me cure you, and then W
will 60 together to the house of thes
assassins."
Eight days later the doctor and
stood In Lower Abbey street. recOg
nized the terrible house. All the blind
were drawn; In front of the door
nlacarl vos plappl hnnrinr the lppnnd